Homeschool Directive

It was a privilege to speak at the Learn Free Conference today!
My workshop topic was,
Tailored for Success: Naturing your Teen's Passions and Goals Through the US High School Diploma Pathway.

Check out the Conference!

https://learnfree.org.uk/

Struggling to make sense of credits, transcripts, GPAs and graduation requirements?

Meet Homeschool Directive!

We help you use the U.S. high school diploma pathway to tailor your teen's education at home, so you can set them up for future success-- no matter where you live in the world!

YOU KNOW THERE IS A BETTER WAY
But, you are worried about missing something important.
You are willing to do the work but the U.S. high school diploma pathway can be confusing—especially if you aren’t familiar with the U.S. educational system.

WE UNDERSTAND that home education is unique around the world, each family is unique in their approach, and each student is unique in their educational needs.
Our U.S. High School Diploma Program accommodates your family’s unique situation with tailored guidance and support, ensuring your teen receives a customized education at home that meets the requirements for a U.S. diploma.

Homeschool Directive offers a unique approach to earning a diploma. Unlike other umbrella schools, we offer four, flexible approaches to earning a credit. This allows us to partner with parents to customize the teen’s education plan to suit their interests and needs, accommodating your teen’s learning style and strategies.

Is your teen working at a higher-level? Our program supports that. Do they have learning challenges? Our program supports that too. Do they prefer hands-on vs textbooks? We can work with that. Do they have a passion project? We can leverage that to fulfill credits too!

Schedule your FREE CONSULTATION to learn how Homeschool Directive can support you in your home educational journey: homeschooldirective.com/talktoHD

Founded by Michele Holmes, a veteran homeschool mom of 30+ years, Homeschool Directive helps families around the world use the U.S. high school diploma pathway to educate their teens at home and prepare them for success after graduation.

Over the years, as she home educated her eight children through high school graduation, Michele became an expert in crafting a high school plan that supported a student’s individual educational interests, needs, and goals.

Seeing a need in her local homeschooling community, Michele started a co-op that focused on high school-level classes over 20+ years ago (that co-op is still going strong). Soon, mom after mom came to Michele with questions about recordkeeping, credits, transcripts, and GPAs, prompting Michele to hold numerous workshop nights out of her home over the years.

As her own homeschooling journey drew to a close, Michele moved into a formal role of homeschool coach, founding Homeschool Directive along with her business partner (and daughter) Rachel Fahrenbach.

Schedule your FREE CONSULTATION today! homeschooldirective.com/talktoHD

You want an educational pathway that both respects your vision for home education and prepares your student for future success.

A PATHWAY THAT…
✔ PUTS YOU IN CONTROL
✔ EMBRACES THE LEARNING NEEDS AND INTERESTS OF YOUR STUDENT
✔ EMPOWERS YOU TO LIMIT OR OPT OUT STANDARDIZED TESTING
✔ IS ALREADY RECOGNIZED BY UNIVERSITIES AND EMPLOYERS WORLDWIDE

THE EDUCATIONAL PATHWAY YOU WANT IS THE U.S. HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA
AND HOMESCHOOL DIRECTIVE CAN HELP YOU WALK IT.

Schedule your free consultation today! homeschooldirective.com/talktoHD

Our friends over at Dumb Ox Learning are offering a prep course starting March 6 to help students become familiar with mathematical concepts as tested on the math section of the SAT.

The course instructor, Helen Harrold, not only homeschooled her own children but has been teaching SAT math for over 10 years. She completed her Economics degree at Lancaster University and then did a postgraduate teaching qualification in Economics and Math.

If you're interested in learning more about this opportunity for your student, you can visit https://dumboxlearning.co.uk/

Are you contemplating homeschooling through high school or know someone who is?

I homeschooled for 30+ years (just graduated my 8th child this year!) and over those years, I've come up with a list of my top 3 pros and top 3 cons of homeschooling through high school. You can click through below to see each of them.

If you're interested, I also shared a little more thoughts about each of these pros and cons over on my YouTube channel.

Which pro makes you the most excited about homeschooling high school?

Which con has you the most nervous?

Teaching a foreign language at home for high school credit can feel intimidating when you aren't familiar or fluent in that language. Karim Morato () with Spanish Educational Solution is setting out to help make that easier for you. Her Spanish programs include both an independent study as well as a live component. She is here today to tell us about her program but also to share some thoughts and tips about teaching Spanish (or any foreign language) at the high school level at home.

You can listen to the full episode on any streaming platform or at homeschooldirective.com/episode02

---Curriculum Spotlight---

Curriculum
Spanish Educational Solutions

Website
https://www.homeschoolspanishcurriculum.com

Credit Details
Elective - World Languages | 1 Spanish Course = 1 Credit

Format
Online, cloud-based system for coursework. Option for LIVE teacher interaction over ZOOM.

Grade
Courses are designated according to skill-based and suggested grade year.

Parental Involvement
Parental involvement depends on the student's ability to stay on-track independently.

Are you looking for a rigorous language arts program for your teen? Then you need to look no further than Writer's Desk's suite of courses. Writer's Desk founder Madeleine Broder (.us) joined me on the podcast to discuss the online-based curriculum she has designed with her mother, a recently retired English teacher.

You can listen to the full episode on any streaming platform or at homeschooldirective.com/episode02

---Curriculum Spotlight---

Curriculum
Writer's Desk

Website
https://www.writersdesk.us/

Credit Details
Language Arts - English | 5 Writer's Desk Courses = 1 Credit

Format
Online, cloud-based system for coursework. Novels and short-stories are consumed offline via your student's preferred method.

Grade
Courses are non-grade specific.

Parental Involvement
Parental involvement depends on the student's reading and writing levels.

We kicked off our new High School Curriculum Spotlight podcast with an interview with Candice Dugger, the founder of Kids Business Academy () about how her program can help your teen earn a credit in business or entrepreneurship.

You can listen to the full episode on any streaming platform or at homeschooldirective.com/episode01

---Curriculum Spotlight---

Curriculum
Kids Business Academy

Website
https://kidsbusinessacademy.com

Credit Details
Elective - Entrepreneurship | 8 Week Course = .5 Credit

Format
Online based. Both live teachings and recorded content. Communication through Marco Polo app.

Grade
Program is available to 10-year-olds and up.

Parental Involvement
Program is designed to be completed with little parental involvement.

My team and I have been keeping a little secret over here at Homeschool Directive... we're launching a new resource for you today!

High School Curriculum Spotlight Podcast

Each week on the podcast, you'll hear as I interview vendors who have a resource for homeschooled high school students.

This is not just another homeschool curriculum review or recommendation podcast! I'll be asking the vendors the questions that you, the homeschooling parent, would ask as you decide if their product is a good match for your high schooler’s learning needs and interests--saving you from hours and hours of research, stress, and spending money on curriculum that won't work for your homeschool!

I'm really excited to bring this podcast to you and in honor of launching the podcast today, we've released two episodes:

01: Earning an Elective in Entrepreneurship with Kid Business Academy ()

02: Earning an English Credit with Writer's Desk (.us)

You can listen to both episodes anywhere you like to stream your podcasts or at homeschooldirective.com/podcast

[Check-in Thread]

It's Day Three of the How to Homeschool High School Bootcamp!

Today's training covered the 4 ways your student can earn a credit!

When we understand that a credit is simply a measurement of how much coursework has been done in a specific educational branch, it opens up various ways your teen can complete that coursework. This really allows us to customize our student's education.

Which of the 4 ways to earn a credit did you resonant with the most? Let me know 👇

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Not part of the bootcamp? You can join here: howtohomeschoolhighschool.com

[Check-in Thread]

It's Day Two of the How to Homeschool High School Bootcamp!

Wasn't it reassuring to hear how easy and simple it is to create Graduation Requirements for your homeschool academy?

But, just because it's so simple and easy, don't be tempted to skip this step! It is so vital that you know where you and your teen are heading before you plan their coursework for the year. And remember, these requirements are flexible and can be adjusted to your student's needs and interests.

What did you find surprising or interesting from today's training? Let me know below 👇

---
Not part of the bootcamp? You can join here: howtohomeschoolhighschool.com

[Check-in Thread]

It's Day One of the How to Homeschool High School Bootcamp!

We covered a lot today, maybe even things you hadn't thought about yet, but I promise you if you take the time to really get these key foundations in place FIRST, then then rest will fall into place.

Because when we begin to think of ourselves as a private high school academy with a vision, mission, and goals, then we give ourselves guidelines for making strong decisions for our teens.

I'd love to hear your thoughts below! 👇

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Not part of the bootcamp? You can join here: howtohomeschoolhighschool.com

The next time your teen shows you something on their phone, I want you to ask the question:

"Is this something you are interested in learning more about?"

Their answer might surprise you!

While it's true your teen has to meet certain graduation requirements (which is just a fancy way of saying they have to do so much coursework in the educational branches*), you get to decide how they will meet those requirements.

What do I mean? Well, maybe your student just showed you a picture of a certain type of dog she finds adorable. Or maybe your student just showed you a picture of a really bad injury a stuntman endured. Both of those are great jumping off points for coursework in biology, which would meet that physical science credit.

And when you take something your student is already interested as a point of entry into other topics they might not be too thrilled about, it makes learning fun and engaging.

So, the next time they say "hey mom, look at this..." use it to your advantage!

---
*The Educational Branches: Language Arts, Math, Physical Science, Social Science, Physical Education, and Electives

Did you know that in most states your homeschool is classified as a private school?

I strongly encourage you to start thinking of your homeschool in these terms. In fact, I so strongly believe this, I always start here in any how-to training I do about homeschooling through high school.

And the first way to start thinking of yourself as a private school is to give your school a name!

I know, I know... you're thinking, "but Michele, I'm homeschool BECAUSE I don't want my kids in traditional school."

Exactly.

You have a goal, a mission, a vision for how you see education happening for your teen.

As does every good private school out there.

And just as every private school out there uses their vision, mission, and goals to drive the credits they require of their students, the extracurriculars they offer, and the content taught within their classes, your homeschool will need to do the same.

So, stop looking for someone else to tell you what you and your student must do, and start asking what does your private school want for it's student.

I am the worst about wanting to sign up for an event and then getting distracted and forgetting to sign up for it.

My main distraction? My kids! And it has only gotten worse the older they get 😄

Which is why I'm posting this reminder that the bootcamp starts tomorrow and you'll want to make sure you sign up today!

Once you sign up, we'll send you the link to the Facebook group. Because it's a private group, you'll need to request to join and then be approved by my team.

Which means, you won't want to wait much longer to sign up because you want to be in the group when we go LIVE tomorrow at 10am CT for the first training.

So, go save your seat: homeschooldirective.com/bootcamp

See you tomorrow!

Seeing all the new faces in our private Facebook group for the bootcamp is an exciting spark as I go over my notes for our training session.

Each new person I see sign up for the bootcamp just gets me so excited because I know that behind that sign up is a family taking a huge step to creating an excellent high school education for their teen at home.

I really want this bootcamp to be packed full of helpful information for you you.

To help you avoid the mistakes I made in the beginning.

To help you can feel like you've got this high school thing.

To help you feel confident you're not going to mess up your kid's future.

So, I hope to see you in the bootcamp. Until then, I'm going to go over my notes and get ready for you.

- Michele

P.S. You can sign up for the bootcamp at the linkinbio or by writing homeschooldirective.com/bootcamp

P.S.S Not a newbie? Then can you do me a favor and tag someone you know who is? Thanks!

I know it's important to get your questions answered before you sign up for something, so I want to make sure I answer your questions about the How to Homeschool High School Bootcamp.

(You can learn more about the bootcamp here: homeschooldirective.com/bootcamp)

Q. How much does it cost?
A. It's free!

Q. Is this online?
A. Yep!

Q. How much time is involved?
A. One hour each day of the bootcamp. This hour includes training and time for questions.

Q. Do I have to be in the Facebook Group?
A. The trainings will be hosted LIVE in the Facebook Group. The recordings of the trainings will be also hosted in the group. So, you'll need to join the Facebook group.

Q. Will you cover homeschooling laws in my specific state?
A. I won't go over specific state laws, but I will teach you what exactly to search for and how to utilize those state graduation requirements to your advantage. This applies to any state!

Q. What if I can't catch the training live?
A. No problem! Each training will be recorded and housed in the Facebook group for a limited time after the bootcamp.

Got a question I haven't answered? Let me know!

Hey friends, I am putting the finishing touches on a How to Homeschool High School bootcamp for the end of next week and I wanted to get your input:

What's something you wish you had known before you started homeschooling high school? What would have helped make things clearer or prepared you better?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Just posted 3 course examples in my Creative Credits Community and I'm reminded again of how much fun homeschooling a high schooler can be!

I wanted to make sure to say that here tonight because I know how easy it can be to get caught up in the "what counts as a credit?" and the "what credits are needed to graduated?" and it's all really overwhelming.

You get so worried about making sure you're not making a mistake, that you miss the fact that you get to create really fun, customized courses for your student to fulfill those credits!

For instance, one of the course examples we gave the community this month was High School English 1: Film & Literature.

Yep, you can pick books and their film adaptations that interest your teen (and maybe you too) and read, watch, and discuss! Add in some journaling exercises and various essays types and you have yourself a fun course that fulfills that Language Arts Credit!

Yes, we have to cover certain credits on our teen's transcript but how and what we cover is really up to us to customize to our teen's needs and interests.

I know it sounds overwhelming right now, but I promise you, with practice you'll start getting excited when it comes to planning a course--because you know the possibilities for teach a certain subject and for your student to earn a certain credit are endless!

p.s. My community is closed right now, but if you want to get on the waitlist to hear when it opens up again, you can do so here:
homeschooldirective.com/creativecreditscommunity

Creative Credits Community Learn how to create credits that meet both high school graduation requirements AND your homeschooled teen's individual needs and interests in the Creative Credits Community!